Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 – s.166 – Compensation – Parental Consortium – Victim aged 48 years working as Private Security Personnel, earning Rs.9,000/- p.m., died in vehicular accident – Tribunal awarded Rs.8,44,000/- under various heads with interest at the rate of 7.5% p.a. from the date of petition till realisation, whereas the High Court enhanced the amount to Rs.11,00,672/-, with interest at 7.5% p.a. from the date of order passed by the tribunal till the date of realisation – Correctness:
Held: When all such persons covered within the expression “legal representative” are entitled to maintain the compensation petition and seek compensation for loss of life of the victim of a motor accident, by virtue of that very principle and in view of the concept of consortium, it is one of the heads of compensation which becomes payable in motor accident claim cases – Consortium in different categories-‘Spousal consortium’, ‘parental consortium’ and ‘filial consortium’ is an important and indispensable head to award accident claim compensation to make the compensation amount to be just compensation – Said amount is to be increased by 10% at the end of every three years – On facts, the appellant nos.2 to 4 are the sons and the daughter of the deceased, all aged between 18 and 21 years whereas appellant No.1 is the wife – They would be legitimately and legally entitled to amount of compensation under the head of consortium, spousal as well as parental – Appellant Nos.2 to 4 ought to have been considered as legal representatives and dependants of the deceased to be entitled to parental consortium – Tribunal erred in granting only Rs.5,000/- to the wife and did not award any parental consortium to the children, on the other hand, the High Court while enhancing the total compensation to Rs.11,00,672/- granted collectively Rs.77,000/- under all the conventional heads – Thus, the High Court also missed its legal duty to ensure that due amount under the head of consortium is awarded in accordance with law to the appellants to arrive at just and legal compensation – After adding the amount under the head of ‘consortium’ and maintaining the amount under the head ‘loss of dependency’ as awarded by the High Court, and increasing the amount under the heads of ‘Funeral expenses’ and ‘Loss of Estate’ from to Rs.15,000/- each, the total amount of compensation payable would stand recalculated as Rs.12,47,272/- – Judgment and award of the High Court modified, and the compensation stands enhanced to Rs.12,47,272/-. [Paras 5.3, 5.5.1, 5.7-6.1, 7.1-10]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
This page is for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate for advice specific to your situation.